A Reading Fluency Intervention in the UK, 2021 By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd (PDF of this Blog Post, including charts) Study details This study evaluated a 12 week intervention delivered by regular teaching staff as a whole class, to assess whether it could make a difference for 8-9 year old children. The study included 103 students from two Local Authority schools and five teaching staff. Both schools were rated as outstanding [...]

Reading Fluency: Why Assessment Matters By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd This blog is based on a doctoral study undertaken at University College London (2014-20). Thirty years as an Educational Psychologist in the UK and I am still routinely asked how to help children who are struggling to learn to read. The UK’s illiteracy rates are high (around 20% for school leavers at ages 11 and 18) and have been for decades. [...]

SEN in England data release – the headlines he government have issued the full set of data relating to Special Educational Needs in England. This release combines information from the school census, school level annual school census, general hospital school census and alternative provision census on pupils with SEN. The data was release on 16th June 2022, and relates to academic year 2021/22. The headlines show: EHCPs up from 3.7% to 4% Almost 1 [...]

Teacher Handbook: SEND This handbook has been developed by NASEN and Whole School SEND as a resource for teachers to use over time as they embed inclusive practice in their classrooms: it is not intended that it is read cover-to-cover. It has been written for both primary, secondary and specialist colleagues: teaching assistants, teachers, senior leaders and headteachers. The handbook includes whole-school and whole-class approaches as well as subject-specific and condition-specific guidance. They have [...]

A Reading Fluency Intervention in the UK, 2021 By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd (PDF of this Blog Post, including charts) Study details This study evaluated a 12 week intervention delivered by regular teaching staff as a whole class, to assess whether it could make a difference for 8-9 year old children. The study included 103 students from two Local Authority schools and five teaching staff. Both schools were rated as outstanding [...]

Reading Fluency: Why Assessment Matters By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd This blog is based on a doctoral study undertaken at University College London (2014-20). Thirty years as an Educational Psychologist in the UK and I am still routinely asked how to help children who are struggling to learn to read. The UK’s illiteracy rates are high (around 20% for school leavers at ages 11 and 18) and have been for decades. I [...]

The May / June 2021 issue of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Magazine is free to download this month. It covers a wide range of subjects including: SEN law Speech and language update Effective Leadership Student-centred learning Visualising date Dyslexia and prejudice Fostering Language through play Developmental Language Disorder Fitness Sleep Autism and school refusal Tech/ICT EHCPs Mental Health and wellbeing Pandemic Food and Diet Self directed learning Long-term disability Recruitment

On 13th May, 2021, the Department for Education published their annual statistical summary of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in England for 2020-21. This publication provides data on children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in England and, historically, for those with a statement of special educational needs (SEN). Data is presented for both the caseload as at January 2021, for example the number of EHC plans, and [...]

Increase of 13% in SEN appeals compared to 2018/19 In the academic year 2019/20 HMCTS tribunals recorded 7,900 registered appeals in relation to SEN, an increase of 13% when compared to the prior year. In the same period, 6,700 SEN appeals were disposed of, an increase of 14% on 2018/19. The increase in appeals registered is likely a continued effect of the 2014 SEN reforms which introduced Education Health and Care plans (EHC) and [...]

The National Tutoring Programme The National Tutoring Programme is a government-funded, sector-led initiative to support schools to address the impact of Covid-19 school closures on pupils’ learning. From the 2020-21 school year, the National Tutoring Programme will make high-quality tuition available to state-maintained primary and secondary schools, providing additional support to help pupils who have missed out the most as a result of school closures. There is a substantial attainment gap between pupils from [...]